• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.159-168
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• 2019

In solstices during the solar minimum, the hemispheric difference of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) intensity (hereafter hemispheric asymmetry) is understood as being opposite in the morning and afternoon. This phenomenon is explained by the temporal variation of the combined effects of the fountain process and interhemispheric wind. However, the mechanism applied to the observations during the solar minimum has not yet been validated with observations made during other periods of the solar cycle. We investigate the variability of the hemispheric asymmetry with local time (LT), altitude, season, and solar cycle using the electron density taken by the CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload satellite and the global total electron content (TEC) maps acquired during 2001-2008. The electron density profiles provided by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate satellites during 2007-2008 are also used to investigate the variation of the hemispheric asymmetry with altitude during the solar minimum. During the solar minimum, the location of a stronger EIA moves from the winter hemisphere to the summer hemisphere around 1200-1400 LT. The reversal of the hemispheric asymmetry is more clearly visible in the F-peak density than in TEC or in topside plasma density. During the solar maximum, the EIA in the winter hemisphere is stronger than that in the summer hemisphere in both the morning and afternoon. When the location of a stronger EIA in the afternoon is viewed as a function of the year, the transition from the winter hemisphere to the summer hemisphere occurs near 2004 (yearly average F10.7 index = 106). We discuss the mechanisms that cause the variation of the hemispheric asymmetry with LT and solar cycle.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1733-1738
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• 2008

SLC6A18, one of the neurotransmitters, was reported the possible relationship to hypertension, and it contained eight blocks of minisatellites. In this study, SLC6A18-MS5 sequence which showed the highest heterozygosity among seven minisatellites was analyzed using the Transfac software, the putative binding sites for the transcription factor Pax4 and HNF4 were discovered as a result. The HNF4 is involved in the diabetes pathway and suggested the relationship to hypertension. Thus, we investigated the putative functional significance of allelic variation in this minisatellites with respect to susceptibility for hypertension. To address this possibility, we analyzed genomic DNA from the blood of 301 hypertension-free controls and 184 cases with hypertension. A statistically significant association was not identified between the allelic distribution of SLC6A18-MS5 and occurrence of hypertension. We then examined the meiotic segregation of SLC6A18-MS5 and it was transmitted following Mendelian inheritance. Therefore, this locus could be useful markers for paternity mapping and DNA fingerprinting. Moreover, we undertook a comprehensive analysis of the genomic sequence to address the evolutionary events of these variable repeats. SLC6A18 minisatellites regions are only conserved in human and primates. This result suggestedthat intronic minisatellites analysis is powerful evolution marker for the non-coding regions in primates and can provide a great insight to the molecular evolution of repeated region in primates.